Mark Blundell Formula One column: Brazil promises to be an intense showdown

Former Formula One driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Mark Blundell writes his latest column, with the Royston-based chief executive of MB Partners reflecting on the Mexican Grand Prix and looking forward to this weekend’s events in Sao Paulo.

Former Formula One driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Mark Blundell writes his latest exclusive F1 column, with the Royston-based chief executive of MB Partners reflecting back on the Mexican Grand Prix before looking forward to this weekend’s events in Sao Paulo.

It isn’t too often that the status quo is maintained following an eventful race weekend but that is exactly where we find ourselves heading into the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Events in Mexico have left the title permutations exactly as they were two weeks ago; Lewis Hamilton needs to continue to deliver error-free and winning race weekends, while hoping his team-mate Nico Rosberg makes a mistake or suffers some misfortune at some point.

Hamilton’s impressive victory in North America took his career tally to 51, equalling the great Alain Prost’s record, and the British driver flew to the win unperturbed by the chaos unfolding behind him.

As the race moved into its final stages it seemed set to pass without incident until Messrs Verstappen, Rosberg and Ricciardo provided the major talking point of the weekend.

Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel only just managed to avoid contact which prompted a four-letter torrent of abuse from the German driver in Verstappen’s direction.

Verstappen and Ricciardo latterly then collided and all three were equally peeved with each other.

The pre-podium room might as well have had a revolving door in the moments that followed as the race stewards tried to get to grip with what had happened.

At first, Verstappen was forced to leave, with Vettel replacing him on the third step of the podium, only for the German to be punished as well.

This meant that the Australian Daniel Ricciardo eventually assumed third position.

Off-the-track matters have dominated the news between the two race weekends. First it appeared that Ross Brawn seemed all but set to be the man that Liberty Media would turn to to help reinvigorate the sport, but these rumours have since been denied by the man himself.

For me, Brawn’s pedigree in the sport would make him a natural fit for such a role. As it stands, Brawn is currently helping F1’s new owners in a consultancy role but I can’t see it being too long before the moguls at Liberty Media realise how valuable Ross could be to them on a more official basis.

I was delighted to hear this week’s news that Jolyon Palmer has been retained by Renault for the 2017 season. Although he has not managed to set much alight this time around, Jolyon is a young and talented British driver and with Jenson’s sabbatical in 2017, it is good to retain another British driver on the grid.

It looks as if Palmer’s retention was sparked by Kevin Magnussen’s decision to depart for the US-based Haas team. This is a bold move for the Dane, who was seemingly agitated by Renault’s continued deferring of their driver choice.

The decision marks a pivotal moment in the driver’s career. However, it is clear that Haas have lofty ambitions in the sport and being the lead driver for such a team was a big pull for the Dane.

The Brazilian Grand Prix is often a season-defining race and that looks set to be the case this weekend. A win for Rosberg would end Hamilton’s title hopes.

The weekend in Brazil is one of the most intense on the calendar. Its passion is not matched by many other Grand Prixs and it is one of those few tracks where the crowd almost feels on top of you.

Drama and excitement go hand-in-hand with the Interlagos track so we look set for another eventful weekend.

For many, sitting behind the wheel of a Formula One car and racing around the circuits of Monaco, Silverstone and Monza remains little more than a pipe dream.

Our publicly available, world-leading motorsport simulator at MB Partners, based in Royston, Hertfordshire, gives you the closest experience to the real thing imaginable.